Painting tips always help when preparing for your upcoming project. Giving you that extra information to get the job done. This week we’ve collected 10 tips to help you with your interior painting.

Different paint finishes have their advantages. Before you paint consider wall imperfections and other factors. High-gloss offers greater durability and is very easy to clean. If your wall is less than perfect, however, high-gloss paint can enhance the imperfections. Flat paint will do a much better job of hiding imperfections, but it’s much easier to damage than high-gloss. Eggshell is a great middle-of-the-road choice.

Don’t let the fear of color turn your room white. Colors can add depth and texture to a room. Using the right colors can turn an otherwise dull room into a beautiful, warm space, and well if you get a color you don’t like, just paint over it!

Small samples prevent big surprises. It’s difficult to tell what a color is going to look like on your wall using a small paint swatch. Conversely, investing in a “test gallon” can get expensive, especially if you can’t make up your mind. To help with this many paint manufacturers offer small sample cans of their colors. They cost only a few bucks and will prevent you from wasting money on a color that isn’t what you want.

Square footage is only half the equation. It’s a well known fact that when you go to buy paint, you have to know the square footage of the room. However, there are many other factors that contribute to the amount of paint you will need. You must always consider the surface you’re painting. If you’re priming the walls, and then what number of coats you are going to need. These things together, square footage, prime, and coats will affect the amount of paint you need to purchase.

Make sure to give yourself some time to prep. About 80 percent of your time will be spent doing the prep work for the painting. Painting will not hide all of a walls imperfections, so it’s important that you take proper steps to make your walls as flat as possible. You also want to clean them before you begin paining since dust or debris left on a wall could cause new paint to peel.

Primer, is well, primer. Primer is essential in any good-quality painting job. It seals the surface of your walls, provides a great base for paint to grab, and helps keep the coats of pain you need to a minimum. If you had to spackle you walls, using primer is a must to prevent flashing.

Don’t cut in a line. Always do brushwork in the corners before you start rolling. Rolling after brushwork will even out the brushstrokes left on the wall.

Rollers can put more than paint on the wall. To get rid of those extra fibers on your fluffy roller before you pain use some masking tape to lift that stuff right off. If you don’t those fibers will become a permanent fixture to your wall.

Don’t overextend yourself. Extension pulls are a great way to cut time and effort on a painting project. They will prevent you having to climb up and down a ladder and give you more leverage when painting a wall that’s right in front of you.

Boxing your paint will ensure you never have to fight blotches. The color mixer can create slight variations from can to can. The last thing you want is to have two shades of a color on the same wall. You can prevent this by mixing all of the paint cans together before you start painting. Boxing your paint ensures you will have consistent color throughout the room.

Every year, paint companies release their predictions for the upcoming year and what will be the popular new paint colors among customers for the new year. They typically base these predictions on the paint colors that are selling best. This information is extremely accurate because paint companies are able to keep record of various shades that are being purchased by customers. All of this information is collected and when reviewed they can precisely predict the most popular paint colors that are on the horizon. This is exciting in many ways. Especially, for homeowners to make the best decision to keep their homes and spaces up to date.

The other great thing about paint forecasts is the can come as a range of colors that compliment eachother nicely. This allowing the consumer to have options within a certain shade of paint color. This also allows the colors of a home to flow well together, creating a very well thought out painting project within a home. The amazing color palettes will help a consumer to make a decision about colors that transition seamlessly throughout the home.

So let’s get to it! What are the popular new paint colors for 2014? Here they are from both Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore!

Sherwin Williams

The first color palette that will be most popular in 2014 is a Gray Scale including colors such as: Classic French Gray (SW 0077), Tricorn Black (SW 6258), Extra White (SW 7006), Gauntlet Gray (SW 7019), Agreeable Gray (SW 7029), Crushed Ice (7647), Earl Gray (SW 7660), and Peppercorn (SW 7674). The second color palette from Sherwin Williams is named “Curiosity” and includes various shades that leave ones mind to fascination and want. These shades include Blue Peacock (SW 0064); Anew Gray (7030); Show Stopper (SW 7588), a joyous shade of red; and Quixotic Plum (SW 6265).

Benjamin Moore

The first palette from Benjamin Moore is referred to as a “new” neutral palette. From their findings they found that more neutral shades will be popular in the home. Benjamin Moore discovered there will be a shift to softened pastels in greens, lavenders, pinks, and blues versus Sherwin-Williams’ Gray Scale. Some of their recommended colors are Van Deusen Blue (HC-156), which has a strong shade of blue; Flint (AF-560), this contributes understated sophistication; and Breath of Fresh Air (806), a pale sky blue. Moore also suggests a color palette that includes the three colors Lavender Mist (2070-60), aforementioned Flint, and Peach Parfait (2175-70).

These color palettes that both Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore have predicted, are simply suggestions to help modernize and update homes. Of course, it really comes down to personal preference. But for some, suggestions are always nice.

Let our paint professionals help you to make a decision that you won’t regret. Call us today!

So you’re thinking your ceiling needs a new coat of paint? The first thing you need to is decide if you are going to paint the walls also, or just the ceiling. If you are going to paint the walls, make sure you paint the ceiling first, that way you don’t have to worry about the ceiling dripping paint on finished walls.

Once you’ve got your painting plan figured out, you need to pick out your paint. Measure the rooms height, width, and depth. Give this information to the company you decide to buy your paint from and they will assist you in determining how much paint you’re going to need to get the job done. As always, having a little extra is always a good thing in-case you need to do touch ups later.

The next step is to remove the furniture from the room, however if you live in a place where this isn’t possible move all the furniture to center the room and cover it well with a tarp or plastic.

Next, cover the floor with plastic and make sure you tape it down to prevent paint getting under the plastic onto the floor.

Now you’re prepped, but there is one more thing to sort out before you decide what you’ll be doing your painting with, and that is do you need primer? The rule is that if you intend to paint over a color that is darker than the hue you’ve selected definitely put on a primer. This will make it so the new shade won’t be bled through by the old color. It will also save you time and money to put up a primer before the finishing paint because the new color will require less coats of paint. Follow the next steps with the primer as you would with the finishing paint. Make sure you let the primer dry 24 hours before you begin painting.

Next step is to cut the ceiling, which means to paint the edges of the ceiling to minimize the amount of paint that gets on the walls.

Once the prep work is done you have a couple options:

Buy or rent a paint sprayer and spray the ceiling. It’s a bit of a mess but it gets the job done, just remember if you do this, take plastic over the windows and anything you don’t want to color as a fine mist will cover everything. Easy to paint over the walls, but not as easy to get off of glass.

Or use a roller to paint instead of the sprayer. If you decide to roll the ceiling you can either use a ladder to get up their comfortably or use an extension pole for your roller. Then paint the ceiling in even strokes to make sure you keep an even thickness across the area.

After you paint your ceiling, if the walls are you next step, go for it. Just make sure the ceiling is dry before you get started.If the ceiling was the only part of the room you painted, the last thing you need to do of course, is clean the room up, put the furniture back in place, and enjoy your new space.

What is idea paint? Idea paint is a single layer of paint that is used to produce a very useful dry erase surface. Idea Paint is now a household name because of its usefulness and great results after use. This is a paint that you paint onto your walls and it creates a dry erase surface on your walls. Idea paint comes in three main colors. It may be clear, white or black. This sort of paint should only be applied using a roller, not a brush.

Many people use idea paint for different reasons. Mainly, idea paint is used for the ease of cleaning that comes with it. The surface that is produced after using idea paint is one that can just be wiped off easily. Idea paint is globally recognized as the originator of high-performance dry erase paint and is available in a variety of formulas that cater to residential, commercial and educational customers.

In the event that you are a part of a household within which there are young children, using idea paint is a good idea. Generally, children enjoy making markings on walls and other flat surfaces and many times, these markings prove to be very difficult to erase. With idea paint, the children can make their marks today and then tomorrow, the surface can be clean again because you can simply wipe off today’s work of art without much effort.

Idea paint is also popularly used for educational purposes. The white board that is used in schools is an example of how idea paint can be used for formal education. Students find it fun to use and because of this, many teachers try to incorporate it into their classroom environment, by using it not only as the surface of the board, but also, as the surface of tables and sometimes a specific section of a wall. This can make the lesson more fun as the students are able to be more actively involved, as they will be able to experiment with concepts and make their mistakes, while, still being afforded the opportunity to just erase it and start over.

We all need it sometimes. Sometimes you find yourself absolutely stumped and cannot find that right color for your interior painting project. Sadly, those 1 inch paint swatches don’t quite cut it when picking a color for your interior. That’s why we try to include as many photos as possible on our site. We know there are really two main reasons people visit our website. #1 to find a great minneapolis painter and #2, to find inspiration and look at photos. Here are a few great photos to help get your inspired and find the right color for your project:

Red is an amazing color that is unlike any other. Red grabs a persons attention, like a stop sign, and demands that they take notice. Red can heat up a room, add a sense of modernism, add a playful side to a room and even make a room feel sexy. No other color has such a wide array of emotions that it can produce quite like red.

Red Accents

Red is a great color to accent with since it draws immediate attention. If you have a unique wall space that you want to draw attention to, accenting it with red will draw people’s eyes the minute they walk into the room. A red couch, pillows, artwork or coffee table will do the same.

Don’t Go Overboard With Red

One problem many homeowners make with red is going overboard with the color. This was a fad from about 2000-2005 when many people were painting entire rooms with red such as dining rooms and kitchens. This fad died as quickly as it came though.

Red is best used as an accent in a room. Red grabs our attention more than any other color, so when a whole room is painted red, you don’t know where to put your attention and the room can seem overwhelming. Keep red to accent walls, furniture and art to use it to it’s fullest potential.

Painting red on your exterior is different though. Red can often times be used as a main exterior color without having this same overwhelming affect. The reason for this is that when you are outdoors, the red on your home is not the only thing in ones vision. You can also see the grass, other homes, the sky and trees. This makes your home an accent to it’s surroundings rather than a complete canvas like when used indoors.

The Psychology Behind Red

Red is a truly amazing color. No other color can relay as many emotions and feelings as red can. In certain color schemes soft reds can be cheery and happy while in others it can be hot and intense. When used in bold accents, red is a color that shows a quality of leadership and forward thinking.

What red is most desired for is that it is the color of sexuality. When bold reds are used as accents in bedrooms, dining rooms and even kitchens, they can add a sexiness to a room by themselves that almost nothing else can replicate.

I have to start this post with one of my favorite stories about a client I painted for. This happened about 7 years ago and while at the time was very frustrating, it really helped me understand the minds of my clients.

I was painting the interior in one of the North suburbs of Minneapolis, it was an easy and straight forward job. My client simply wanted new paint on their walls. The current color was a dark green and my client really loved the color gold. So I was hired to paint their living room, entry, kitchen, stairwell and upper hallways all gold.

The job took 2 or 3 days (I don’t remember exactly) and everything went just fine. There were no issues, the client and I got along just great, I finished the job, got paid and went on my merry way.

The next day I got a call from a very upset client, they said that I had gotten paint all over their trim and all over their ceiling. They said I was really sloppy with my painting and were extremely frustrated. I couldn’t hardly believe that I had done what they said, I am a very good painter, I had looked over my work and made sure everything went great. Did I work too quickly, was I zoning out, what was the issue?! Shocked, I jumped in my car and headed straight up to their house.

When I got into the house the client took me straight to their stairwell and pointed out spots of green paint on the trim (even on the sides of the trim) and green spots on the ceiling. I immediately began smiling, which they did not like. If you were paying attention above, remember I said I painted GOLD. Their old color was GREEN, they had painted the green themselves. After a bit of explaining we both had a good chuckle and to this day this is a story I enjoy telling.

What I learned from this experience has been a very important lesson about construction and painting in general. Homeowners typically do not inspect the little things on their home (such as paint on ceiling) when they either buy a house or do work themselves, but they inspect it to a T after hiring a contractor. This is 100% what they should do as well. What I took away from this is that I should also inspect their home to a T before I start a project.

This helps me to find issues, known or unknown to the homeowner, point out things that we could fix if they want us to or even just to point out issues so that I don’t take credit for them when finished. This has made my contracting life much easier through the years.

Part 1

There are a handful of reasons you may be thinking about painting your walls. These may range from selling your home, brightening up a room or maybe you even just bought a new home. Whether you plan on painting yourself or hiring a contractor, you want your home to look amazing when you are done. This article is meant for the Do It Yourself home owners out there who want great results with their painting project. Just a note, if you are thinking about hiring a contractor, Minneapolis Painting Company will make sure you receive an amazing paint job for an amazing price!

Don’t Use Fall For Gimmicks Such Edging Tools

Everyone want’s to be able to paint easier and faster and many of these tools promise just that. Problem is, they don’t deliver. I can promise you that almost all of these edging tools and cut in tools are a waste of time and money. They will give you an ok edge at best and are a paint to clean, so you will probably only get one use out of them.

Do Buy A Nice Paint Brush

Instead of using a gimmicky edging tool, use what a real professional painter would use, a high quality Purdy or Wooster paint brush. These brushes are made to last. If you take your time, you can cut in a near perfect line on trim or ceilings with these. They are also so much more useful, one high quality brush will server the same purpose as 4 different painting gimmicks. If kept clean a Wooster or Purdy brush should last you 10+ years. I have Purdy’s that I have been using almost daily for over 5 years.

Don’t Skimp On Your Brush, I just told you to buy a nice brush, I did not say to buy a cheap brush. Cheap brushes will loose their shape, not clean well, deliver poor results and need replacing soon. A good quality brush is always going to be $10-$18, anything less is cheap.

Don’t Skimp On Your Roller Pads Either

A cheap roller pad will shed lint all over in your paint. This will cause your wall to look terrible. A cheap pad will also make your painting take longer, leave a poor texture. A high quality roller will not shed in your paint, hold more paint between dipping, leave a great texture and help you paint faster. A good roller cover would be a Purdy White Dove Roller Cover. Look for a 1/2″ nap for best results.

Do Use An Extension Pole When Rolling Paint On Your Walls

I like to use a 2′-4′ extension pole when painting walls for a couple of reasons. First, an extension pole saves my body. When I paint with an extension pole my back stays in a upright position with my arms doing all of the work. Without an extention pole you must bend down and reach up on every stroke. This will take a toll on your body. Secondly, for the exact reasons I mentioned, an extension pole will help you to paint significantly faster.

If you’re dedicated to DIY and want to paint a room yourself, don’t just grab a brush and a tin of paint, and hope for the best. You’ll regret it. Follow this guide and you’ll save yourself hours of frustration.

Good preparation leads to a good finish

Preparing well will not guarantee a perfect finish, but you won’t get a perfect finish without it. Put time and thought into your preparation and you’ll not only avoid time-wasting mistakes, you’ll also avert longer-term problems such as flaking paint.

Most people find preparing to paint a room as boring as – well, watching paint dry, but it’s more than worth the trouble. Follow these steps:

1. Get good-quality paint. It will look better and last longer. Make sure you choose the right paint for the purpose. For example, use a semi-gloss or satin finish in a kid’s room, not a flat paint – or else you’ll have lots more work to do cleaning handprints, footprints, crayon marks, etc. And note that a shiny paint will show up any imperfections on a wall.

Also, get enough paint or you will run out when you’re up the ladder applying a master stroke to the ceiling.

2. Get good-quality brushes (unless you like bristles in your paint) and rollers.

3.Dress suitably. Don’t put on your evening dress; wear old clothes and shoes – and you may be glad you covered your hair.

4. Empty the room of furniture and anything that will get in your way. (If there’s heavy furniture, gather it in the middle of the room.)

It’s best to remove any vents, the handles and knobs from doors and windows, and – after you’ve turned off the power – electrical covers (keep the screws together!). Use tape to cover the wires in the outlet boxes. Take down the draperies and drapery fixtures.

Loosen the light fixtures, let them hang, and use plastic bags to wrap them.

Also remove any hooks or nails.

5. Repair all surface defects on the surfaces to be painted. Fill any holes with spackling paste. When it’s dry, sand the area smooth.

6.Sand glossy surfaces so that the paint will adhere. Or use a commercial deglosser or trisodium phosphate (TSP), which you can buy in a paint or hardware store. You can degloss wood in the same way, or sand it with medium or fine sandpaper.

7. Clean the room and all surfaces. Vacuum the room and then wash the surfaces with warm water and a detergent or wall-cleaning soap. To remove grease and grime, use TSP (trisodium phosphate) or a phosphate-free substitute. Then wash the surface and let it dry.

8. Cover the floor and furniture that remains, with plastic sheeting and canvas dropcloths (or old bedsheets).

9. Mask areas that will not be painted. Apply tape as necessary around doors, windows and moldings, using painter’s tape.

It’s best to use blue tape or another low-stick tape. Apply it in short lengths (two feet long at most). Press it firmly on to the area and make sure there are no folds or bubbles where paint might seep in.

Remove the tape before the paint dries (check the information on the paint tin to see how long this will take) or else you may also accidentally pull paint up from the surface. Pull off the tape slowly and steadily at a 90-degree angle to the surface so that the tape will ‘cut’ the paint cleanly.

Paint a room in the right sequence

1. Start with the ceiling so paint splashes don’t end up misdecorating an already painted area below.?Don’t worry about cutting in (that is, painting where two edges or colors meet) the ceiling edges to perfection, as you will be cutting in the walls later on. If you have a cornice in a different color, paint it next.

There is disagreement about the next step. Should you paint the woodwork before or after the walls?

‘Woodwork first’ argument: Any spatters on the wall don’t matter much since the wall will be painted later.

‘Wall first’ argument: Rollers give off a fine spray of paint no matter how careful you are. Some of it is likely to find the woodwork.

We advise to paint the walls first, since it’s easier to fix the odd spatter than widely spread spray.

2. Now paint the walls. You can paint in sections from top to bottom or side to side as you wish. Cut in neatly at the ceiling or cornice edges.

Paint the whole wall before taking a break or the painted parts will lose their wet edges. Then scan the wall, and paint any missed areas and fix any smears.

3. Next, do the trims and the woodwork. Cut in carefully to the walls. Lightly sand and dust down between coats.

4. Paint the skirting boards.

How to use a brush

It’s worth learning how to use a brush properly – to ensure a good finish and to avoid aches in your muscles.

Hold a trim or sash brush the same way you’d grasp a pencil and you’ll be able to manipulate it with great control when you’re doing fine paintwork. Use your whole hand to grasp the beaver-tail handle on a large brush.

How much paint should you load on the brush? The maximum amount, but not so much that the paint will end up dripping uncontrollably. Experiment as you hold the brush over the paint tin and you’ll quickly measure the ideal amount.

On large surfaces, apply the paint in sections of two or three square feet.

It’s worth learning good painting techniques – but that’s a subject in itself.

How to use a roller

It’s easier to use a roller than a brush. To paint ceilings, use a roller with an extension handle so you can do the job from the floor and not have to move a stepladder around.

Fill the well of the pan about half full, dip the roller into the middle of the well, then raise it and roll it down the slope of the pan – but stop before the well. If you do this three times, the paint will work well into the roller.

Next, again dip the roller into the well and roll it on the slope until it is covered with paint.

You’ll know quickly if you’re applying too much paint – the roller will drip as you lift it away from the roller.

When painting, keep the roller on the surface all the time as you roll it in a zigzag direction and then apply horizontal and vertical strokes to fill in the uncovered areas. It’s best to paint in sections of two or three square feet.

On a vertical surface, start by rolling upwards. If you start with a downward roll, the paint may gather in a puddle and run down the wall.

When you’re lifting the roller, do it slowly so it doesn’t leave a mark behind.

Since rollers can’t go tight to edges, you need to use a brush along the ceiling, and in corners and moldings. To avoid contrasting brush and roller marks, cover the brush marks as much as you can with the roller – but don’t load it with paint when doing this.

Avoid creating lines, ridges and lap-marks by maintaining a wet edge all the time. You may have to work fast so that you’re always applying new paint on to paint that’s still wet, but you’ll get a good finish.

Most DIY beginners spend too long applying the paint. Do this rapidly, then spread and smooth it quickly.

Keep a wet rag handy and use it to pick lumps off the wall as they arise.

Note that, for very large areas, you can use an airless sprayer. If you do, make sure to follow the instructions carefully.

If you are planning to paint your home in the near future, you have probably already met up with some Minneapolis, Minnesota painters to figure out what the costs are going to be. That is not all of the prep work that you have to do though. You should do a bit of work in your home to make sure it is ready when the painters come. Your painters could do this work for you, but you might feel better about doing the work on your own. Follow the steps below before your painters come, and they should be able to get right to work.

Move the Furniture
If you can completely move your furniture out of a room, do so. This will create a clear space for the painters to work in. if you cannot do this, at least try to move the furniture away from the walls. Then all they will have to do is cover up the pile so that they don’t get any paint on your valuables.

Create Ventilation
You will need some kind of air circulation for the room to ensure that the paint fumes do not get trapped along the way. Your Minnesota painters will probably bring fans, but it might be nice to make your windows accessible for them to open. As long as you ask them to close the windows when they are finished, they should be able to minimize the amount of air you lose while they are painting.

Clean the Corners
Even the cleanest homes have some cobwebs in the corners that can interrupt the painting process. You might want to run a vacuum hose in the corners of your room, just to pick up any stranded webs that you might have missed. You could do this along the baseboards as well, just to keep the area as clean as possible. Then it will be ready to paint.

Follow the suggestions above the next time you decide to hire painters for your Minneapolis home, and you will be able to get the work completed as quickly as possible.